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Papers by Vanbasten de Araújo

Research paper thumbnail of Shared pain between a mother and her son: Unsettling clinical encounters through the entanglement of bodies, affects, and pain in Fibromyalgia treatment

LOVA Journal, 2019

This article is an autoethnography of the entangled mother-son experiences with Fibromyalgia (FMS... more This article is an autoethnography of the entangled mother-son experiences with Fibromyalgia (FMS), analysing how gender and sexuality intertwined with our biomedical narratives. Considering that 80 to 90% of FMS patients are women, in this article I examine the affective entanglement between health practitioner and FMS patient. I address this affective relationship as an illustration of how biomedical and cultural approaches are co-constituted and feed on 'biocultural' theories in order to make sense of pain. Through an analysis of the gendered aspects of FMS, I argue that affective entanglements between the patient, family, and health practitioner are materially productive and have healing agency when recognizing her/his/their singularities not as deviants from a normative status of healthiness, but as a result of biocultural constellations of oppressions.

Research paper thumbnail of 'Life Without Humankind' -queer death/life, plastic pollution, and extinction in An Ecosystem of Excess

Women, Gender & Research, 2019

This article explores Pinar Yoldas' An Ecosystem of Excess (EOE) (2014) as an example of the pote... more This article explores Pinar Yoldas' An Ecosystem of Excess (EOE) (2014) as an example of the potential of eco-art projects to queer normative readings of death and life. Making use of feminist posthumanities and new materialism, the article addresses the artist's affirmative way of tackling issue of plastic pollution, which is inspired by new scientific discoveries of life forms that can feed on plastics. Departing from my reading of the art project as depicting a future without humankind, I argue that the artwork presents what I refer to as 'queer death/life', given that it unsettles normative readings of death by embracing the deadly aspects of plastic pollution as generative of new modes of life. Moreover, I will offer a close analysis of the artwork by engaging with queer readings of plastics as 'living dead' matter that is indebted to the compressed bodies of dead ancient nonhuman beings-the petroleum. Finally, in the last section, I will discuss how the artwork space, which is reminiscent of a natural history museum, engages affirmatively with the future, enabling interesting connections between evolution, extinction, and the museum space, considering it as an institution dedicated to immortalising history.

Thesis Chapters by Vanbasten de Araújo

Research paper thumbnail of SHIMMERY WASTE: A QUEER CRITIQUE OF THE NARRATIVES ON GLITTER POLLUTION

Central European University Repository, 2019

This study explores the relationship between glitter, queer bodies, and the environment, addressi... more This study explores the relationship between glitter, queer bodies, and the environment, addressing this entanglement through a diffractive investigation that follows the matter/meanings of glitter from manufacture to disposal. In order to rethink the discourses on ‘glitter pollution,’ I rely on new materialist and queer theories that acknowledge the flows of matter/meanings across different bodies and sites. I use glitter as the main matter and figure to conduct this research, structuring my analysis through two axes: the politics of aesthetics and the politics of pollution. Reflecting on the exchange value of shimmery objects and the use of glitter in queer politics of visibility, I critically engage with the visual political economy that is offered by glitter. Regarding aesthetics, I analyze the consumption of glitter by the queer community, having in mind the motivations and meanings that are built around it. First, I address the question of how glitter is taken as a metaphor for visibility within the queer community. Then, I acknowledge the ways this queer use of glitter is criticized from environmental perspectives. Drawing on this juxtaposition of queer and environmental politics, I propose a new perspective, what I call ‘shimmery waste,’ which incorporates both queer and environmental theories. I base this approach on the analysis of the affective and material entanglements between glitter, queer bodies, and nature, claiming that the problem does not rely on the queer use of glitter per se. Instead, I argue that what needs to be addressed is the importance of context and scale, because these two variables determine the political values of waste and pollution. Finally, I contend that this proposed reframing of the relation between glitter and nature is an inevitable first step in thinking about a queer attitude towards waste and pollution.

Research paper thumbnail of Shared pain between a mother and her son: Unsettling clinical encounters through the entanglement of bodies, affects, and pain in Fibromyalgia treatment

LOVA Journal, 2019

This article is an autoethnography of the entangled mother-son experiences with Fibromyalgia (FMS... more This article is an autoethnography of the entangled mother-son experiences with Fibromyalgia (FMS), analysing how gender and sexuality intertwined with our biomedical narratives. Considering that 80 to 90% of FMS patients are women, in this article I examine the affective entanglement between health practitioner and FMS patient. I address this affective relationship as an illustration of how biomedical and cultural approaches are co-constituted and feed on 'biocultural' theories in order to make sense of pain. Through an analysis of the gendered aspects of FMS, I argue that affective entanglements between the patient, family, and health practitioner are materially productive and have healing agency when recognizing her/his/their singularities not as deviants from a normative status of healthiness, but as a result of biocultural constellations of oppressions.

Research paper thumbnail of 'Life Without Humankind' -queer death/life, plastic pollution, and extinction in An Ecosystem of Excess

Women, Gender & Research, 2019

This article explores Pinar Yoldas' An Ecosystem of Excess (EOE) (2014) as an example of the pote... more This article explores Pinar Yoldas' An Ecosystem of Excess (EOE) (2014) as an example of the potential of eco-art projects to queer normative readings of death and life. Making use of feminist posthumanities and new materialism, the article addresses the artist's affirmative way of tackling issue of plastic pollution, which is inspired by new scientific discoveries of life forms that can feed on plastics. Departing from my reading of the art project as depicting a future without humankind, I argue that the artwork presents what I refer to as 'queer death/life', given that it unsettles normative readings of death by embracing the deadly aspects of plastic pollution as generative of new modes of life. Moreover, I will offer a close analysis of the artwork by engaging with queer readings of plastics as 'living dead' matter that is indebted to the compressed bodies of dead ancient nonhuman beings-the petroleum. Finally, in the last section, I will discuss how the artwork space, which is reminiscent of a natural history museum, engages affirmatively with the future, enabling interesting connections between evolution, extinction, and the museum space, considering it as an institution dedicated to immortalising history.

Research paper thumbnail of SHIMMERY WASTE: A QUEER CRITIQUE OF THE NARRATIVES ON GLITTER POLLUTION

Central European University Repository, 2019

This study explores the relationship between glitter, queer bodies, and the environment, addressi... more This study explores the relationship between glitter, queer bodies, and the environment, addressing this entanglement through a diffractive investigation that follows the matter/meanings of glitter from manufacture to disposal. In order to rethink the discourses on ‘glitter pollution,’ I rely on new materialist and queer theories that acknowledge the flows of matter/meanings across different bodies and sites. I use glitter as the main matter and figure to conduct this research, structuring my analysis through two axes: the politics of aesthetics and the politics of pollution. Reflecting on the exchange value of shimmery objects and the use of glitter in queer politics of visibility, I critically engage with the visual political economy that is offered by glitter. Regarding aesthetics, I analyze the consumption of glitter by the queer community, having in mind the motivations and meanings that are built around it. First, I address the question of how glitter is taken as a metaphor for visibility within the queer community. Then, I acknowledge the ways this queer use of glitter is criticized from environmental perspectives. Drawing on this juxtaposition of queer and environmental politics, I propose a new perspective, what I call ‘shimmery waste,’ which incorporates both queer and environmental theories. I base this approach on the analysis of the affective and material entanglements between glitter, queer bodies, and nature, claiming that the problem does not rely on the queer use of glitter per se. Instead, I argue that what needs to be addressed is the importance of context and scale, because these two variables determine the political values of waste and pollution. Finally, I contend that this proposed reframing of the relation between glitter and nature is an inevitable first step in thinking about a queer attitude towards waste and pollution.